Strongly Enhanced Water Splitting Performance of Ta3N5 Nanotube Photoanodes with Subnitrides

Subnitrides strongly enhance the efficiency of Ta3N5-nanotube photoanodes in photochemical water splitting. The fabrication of Ta3N5 nanotube layers with a controlled subnitride layer at the interface to the back contact is demonstrated. The insertion of this subnitride layer has a strong influence on the electron transfer to the back contact, and as a result leads to a drastic shift in photocurrent onset potential and a considerable enhancement of photocurrent conversion efficiency. [GRAPHICS] .